In law, a case stated is a procedure by which a court or
tribunal
A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a singl ...
can ask another court for its opinion on a point of law. There are two kinds: consultative case stated and
appeal
In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...
by way of case stated. A consultative case stated is made at the discretion of a judge before he or she determines the case before the court. An appeal by way of case stated is made at the request of a party to the proceedings to the judge after the conclusion of a case.
On the hearing of a case stated, the higher court is restricted to consideration of the law alone and is required to accept the statement of facts submitted to it by the lower court.
If the application is granted, the matter is referred to the higher court. This usually takes the form "were we/was I correct to ..." and then the specified aspect of law to which the appeal relates. If the application to state a case is refused, the applicant may be able to seek redress by
judicial review
Judicial review is a process under which a government's executive, legislative, or administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. In a judicial review, a court may invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions that are in ...
. The higher court will determine whether or not the law was correctly applied. If the appeal is upheld, the higher court will refer the case back to the referring court with directions to correct its decision. Otherwise, the appeal would be dismissed.
In England and Wales
In criminal cases in England and Wales, appeal by way of case stated allows both defendants and prosecutors in cases before the
magistrates' court
A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several Jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings.
Courts
* Magistrates' court (England and Wales) ...
to appeal decisions if they are "wrong in law" or "in excess of jurisdiction". Such appeals go to a
Divisional Court of the
King's Bench Division
The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts.
It hears appeals on point ...
of the
High Court of Justice
The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal (England and Wales), Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Courts of England and Wales, Senior Cour ...
.
See also
*
Certified question
In the law of the United States, a certified question is a formal request by one court from another court, usually but not always in another jurisdiction, for an opinion on a question of law.
These cases typically arise when the court before whi ...
, a similar process to consultative case stated in American law.
*
Preliminary reference, a similar procedure in which courts and tribunals in member states of the European Union may make questions of law to the European Court of Justice for determination.
References
Appellate review
Judiciaries
{{law-stub